Forum on environment stresses cooperation

Representatives of government, industry and academia gathered Friday morning in the Towne Building for the keynote session of the President's Forum on the Environment, this year entitled "The Earth: Where's the Common Ground?" With intentional symbolism, Interim President Claire Fagin stood behind a podium of recycled trash and discussed of the importance of promoting dialogue between the three groups. "We know that this is the kind of vigorous conversation that our country needs to have if we are to move forward together toward a national policy that encourages both economic development and environmental conservation," Fagin said. Keynote speaker Anne Shields, an Interior Department deputy solicitor, outlined "a number of ambitious, but?achievable priorities" set forth by the Clinton administration. "We must use caution and cooperative effort and sensitivity for people's lives and livelihood while moving steadily forward to increase environmental protection," Shields said. Philip Lewis, director of safety, health and environmental affairs for the Rohm and Haas Company, was also featured as a keynote speaker. Lewis called the forum an important part of the reformatory process. "A forum such as this is certainly an important step in making the critical societal transition in moving from [a] confrontational to a cooperative stance in?environmental protection and development," Lewis said. But Lewis also asked where those people were "whose lives will be affected" by changes in the handling of environmental problems. "We certainly need to learn, not only to want to be, but how to be, inclusive," he said. The forum raised a number of issues. Biology Professor Dan Janzen's spoke on "Biodiversity - use it or lose it." Janzen has spent several years in Costa Rica, studying the environment of its dry forests, and has helped that country's recently formed National Institute of Biodiversity. In a developing country, he said, "you can destroy an area or you can make it highly productive." He stressed that for true reform there "has to be a marriage" between government and the private sector. Many participants at Friday's session praised the act that representatives of government, industry and academia were together. Executive Director of the President's Office Linda Hyatt, who helped organize the event, explained, "We have representatives from government, industry and a lot of faculty inside Penn, outside Penn, and a lot of students. So we got a good cross-section of the community." As for long term goals, Hyatt said, "We were here to get a national dialogue going on how industry, higher education and government should meet together, and I think we've done that."